DDA

The Triumph of Buffoonery Over Common Sense?

My memories of American presidential campaigns began in the early sixties, with a vague recollection of John F Kennedy smiling in victory over someone I hadn’t heard of at the time, but who would become famous and infamous in the next decade.

Of course at the time I had no idea that vast amounts of money had to be spent to elevate someone to the highest office in the United States. Oh, to be young and innocent again. I have no idea how much money was spent on getting John F Kennedy elected, but I’m sure even in today’s terms, it would be dwarfed by the billions spent collectively by this year’s crop of hopeful idiots!

The whole system, whether in America or elsewhere, is governed by wealth and patronage. This of course is to keep out anyone with fresh ideas and radical thinking. The people in charge of the people in charge do not want their cosy club gate-crashed by outsiders, who might ask awkward questions.

Really, the voters don’t have a choice. They may imagine they do, but what is put in front of them are, in America, two people who will do as they’re told despite what they may have said or promised on the long, long campaign trail.

“Yes we can”! Well actually, no you can’t!

This is not a new phenomenon, but it is becoming much more obvious. Almost as if “they” are saying, “take your best shot, but nothing is going to change!”

Regardless of who wins the race to the White House, the result has been fixed by people who don’t care about anything except profit and power.

This campaign seems to have gone on for even more years than it already has. There appears to be no end to the chicanery, bollocks, and general backbiting between the main and minor candidates.

The latest non-candidate is Jeb Bush, brother and son of two past presidents. I remember watching a television programme some years ago about George and Jeb and their new politics, Compassionate Conservatism. This was when George was the governor of Texas and Jeb was doing the same in Florida.

The odd thing was, this compassion appeared to consist of executing as many people as possible. Sometimes actually after a trial!

Another odd thing was the conclusion that Jeb was the more likely of the brothers to become president. I thought at the time this was strange, as George was definitely the idiot who would do exactly what he was told, without having the ability to think for himself .

Perfect presidential material, in fact!

I believe two events killed off any chance of Jeb becoming president. One was when he delivered Florida to his brother in the farce election where George “beat” Al Gore. And the second event was “9/11”.

I believe when Jeb was told of his brother’s involvement in this atrocity, his political life was effectively over.
This tilt at the White House was done without conviction or enthusiasm. He was only going through the motions for his brother’s backers. His relief was obvious as he declared himself out of the contest. He most definitely didn’t want to be there in the first place.

So, another one goes down, leaving Donald Trump as the Republican front runner. This is something of a shock to most commentators and the public. But not if you think about what he is representing.

He is saying what no one else would say, even if they actually believed it to be true. He is some kind of hero to a large section of American society which has felt ignored by mainstream politicians and media.

This is very dangerous territory to be dealing with, especially if he is only saying what people want to hear. The main danger here is what happens if by some insanity, he’s elected to the presidency and doesn’t carry out all of his grandiose schemes?

Trump would have to carry out all the insane ideas he has been spouting, leaving America an international pariah! A wall building insular inward looking shambles, presided over by a ridiculous bouffant haired megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur!

His main rivals for the Republican nomination, are not much better. Although I think Marco Rubio is slightly less repellent than the strange looking Ted Cruz. But it’s a close run thing! I really can’t see either one making a dent in the hairspray of Trump. I think Rubio will be the last man standing alongside Trump at the Republican convention, if he still has a chance of getting the nomination.

Trump has played the media like a fiddle. They hang on his every insane utterance regardless of political preference, and give him coast to coast publicity. He knows how to press the right buttons at the right time, to get maximum worldwide coverage.

Even if Michael Bloomberg decides to run as an independent, I can’t see him gathering enough momentum to stop the Trump march to nomination.

On the Democratic side of the political coin, it’s a two horse race which Hillary Clinton was expected to win at a canter. This has now been turned on it’s head by the almost socialist talk from Bernie Sanders. This kind of politics is virtually unheard of in mainstream American politics. And the amazing part of this is that the voters are loving what he is saying.

This is truly disconcerting for the likes of Fox News! People might actually be thinking for themselves!

There is a huge appetite for something different in politics. Straight talking is in, and waffle and bollocks are out. This explains why the likes of Sanders and Trump are proving so popular with the electorate.

While Hillary Clinton has the experience, she also has the baggage of her philandering husband and the various mistakes she made as secretary of state. People are no longer prepared to vote because a relative used to be president.

They want people who are prepared to appear to tell the truth! They want to be listened to by people who seem to be listening, even when they’re thinking about cake!

We all know nothing in politics is what it appears to be. But at this moment, public opinion is that the old guard are finished and a new era of honest politics is almost within touching distance.

Is Bernie Sanders the answer to the misery of the underclass in society? Will Trump brick up the entire US border? Will Rubio or Cruz make it to the convention?

Will Hillary manage to shake off old age and the legacy of Bill? Will any of us live long enough to see the end of this campaign? Will the winner be truly independent of huge corporations and sinister plots of world domination?

These questions and many others will only be answered in November of this year. Will the answers be the ones you want?